Syria will never be safe under Assad

When I heard Denmark had declared parts of Syria ‘safe’, I thought about what would happen if I returned to the country of my birth. I am sure that if I did, I would immediately be taken to prison and disappeared like hundreds of thousands of Syrians. Or I might be tortured to death. Because ten years after the conflict in Syria began, the Assad regime is still in power.

I come from the city of Darayya, which is about 20 minutes outside of Damascus. When I was growing up, if you criticised as much as the power shortages, you could end up in prison. In 2003, some of my friends organised a campaign against littering because the streets were filthy and posed with mops and brooms. They were arrested by the regime and held for three years.

You couldn’t even organise a wedding without getting permission from the security services. When peaceful demonstrations against the regime began in March 2011, they happened after Friday prayers — because that was the only time people were allowed to gather.